1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a toy container, and more particularly to an educational toy container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous pull toys available today. A few examples would include pull toys having the general configuration of a car, boat, train or wagon, all with a string or rod attached to the toys, so that they may be pulled by a child.
There are also pull toys available, which in addition to being able to be pulled by a child, have an enclosed area so that other articles or toys may be stored within the pull toy. A wagon would be an example of such a pull toy. Another example would be a pull toy in the shape of a shoe. As with a wagon, toys may be stored within the shoe and pulled around by a child. Entrance to the shoe's enclosure is gained by unlacing a portion of the toy.
There are containers that have walls made from a plurality of rolls of paper. The paper, often newspaper, is tightly wound around an elongate object, such as a pencil. The rolls of paper are positioned vertically and connected to form the walls which define the internal cavity of the container. One end of a small pipe cleaner is securely fastened into the top of the roll in the hole left by the removal of the elogate object. The other end of the pipe cleaner is securely fastened to an adjacent roll, to give the effect of a weaved object. Small objects, such as pens or pencils, are stored in the internal cavity. When made on a larger scale, the container is used as a wastebasket.
Completely separate from the above-mentioned toys are educational toys that promote early learning by a child. Color identification is taught to children through a variety of devices. An example of such a device is a board having a number of apertures, together with a corresponding number of tight-fitting dowels adapted to be driven through the apertures. The apertures and dowels are of varying sizes. Typically, there are six rows of holes, with each row having a different diameter hole. The color is the same for all of the dowels that would fit into one row of holes, and correspond to the color surrouding each of the holes. Therefore, when the dowels are driven into the proper hole, the colors of the dowels and the area surrounding the hole match. Variations of this concept include a device having dowels of varying lengths and holes of varying depth. The dowel heads are of various colors, and the area around each hole is the same as the dowel whose length is the same as the dpeth of the hole. Therefore, to properly insert all of the dowels in the corresponding holes, all of the colors must match up.
There are also devices which, instead of inserting a dowel into a hole, have tethered dowels which are placed on top of a receptacle having matching colors. The tethering of the dowels prevents the loss of the dowels.
While the prior art devices discussed in the preceeding paragraphs are suitable for their particular function, they are limited to that particular function. If more than one function is desired, it is necessary to purchase more than one toy. This presents several disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that the cost of purchasing several toys is greater than the cost of purchasing one toy that combines numerous functions. The second disadvantage is that the larger number of toys requires more storage space in a child's room. Also, the great number of parts that is required by numerous toys contributes to the risk of loss of individual pieces of a toy. Loss of a portion of an educational toy, of course, reduces the effectiveness of the educational toy.
To date, there is no known single education toy which effectively combines the function of teaching color identification, finger coordination, grasping skills, and which incorporates these functions into a pull type container toy.
The present invention addresses the problems associated with the prior art devices and provides a new educational toy and container with an effective and surprising combination of functions.